Science Musings Blog

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Ottewell's calendar

This is the time each year when I submit my order for Guy Ottewell's Astronomical Calendar. Anyone who watches the sky with care must have this extraordinary annual guide to all things astronomical. Scroll down his web page and you'll see in more detail what I think about the calendar. Guy has been putting out this large-format wonder for as long as I can remember. He has a genius for graphics.

Guy is an artist too, and his covers are always original paintings. This year's (2006) is a little different. He has rendered in color a traditional and mysterious Navajo star map drawn in 1908, and invites us, the readers, to puzzle out what constellations are represented by Monster-Slayer, Black God, Horned Rattler, Whirling Female, and all the rest.